Wednesday, 5 September 2007

A Caramelized Success

I love those little steamed buttery caramel cupcakes sold at the stalls in KL, Malaysia during teatime. I have always wanted to make them by myself. First time tried, it was not so successful. Now, after a year’s gap, tried making them again. This time, it was a great success. Hubby wouldn’t stop eating them. He told me to make another batch for Mahisha's nursery's potluck party the next day. Made them, and everybody liked the cakes as well.

Steamed Caramel Cupcakes

What do we need:

Caramel
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water

1 1/4 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup milk

How do we do it:

Melt the sugar on very low heat. When the colour turns golden brown, immediately remove from heat and pour in the boiling water. Return to the heat and stir until the caramelized sugar dissolves in the water. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Combine the wet ingredients to the sifted flour mixture. Whisk gently until it is lump free. Pour the batter into greased little moulds until 3/4 full. Steam on high for 15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool.

Oh my.. the baking genius is back!! Hi, my name is Angela and I am an addicted fan of your blog. While you were away I treated my family to a few of your goodies and boy were they happy!!!The moist chocolate cake and the choc cheese cake were absolute hits. Thanks for making baking so easy. And now off to some steaming.. Thks Pusha for your passionate blogging. Oh yes and congrats on your baby boy! You ought to have your hands full now!! ANGELA.

Pushpa,I tried it put yest but the caramel hardened before I even added the hot water! I just melt it again in the microwave & it wasn't like the syrup form you mentioned in your recipe. Mine was solid when I added in the butter,sugar. I threw away the hardened part & made do with whatever caramel was left. hahaha. I couldn't taste the caramel..more like the manku kueh if you know what it is. Its the colour cakes u eat with red sugar..Sells at pasar malam. Must try again...

Wendy- Butter is not 100% solid. It is actually semi-solid. Soften the butter & fill ur measuring cup. U can use a kitchen scale if u have one. About 120g would make 1/2 a cup of butter. HTH. Btw, where r u writing from, Wendy?

culinaryprincess- Welcome to the blog & thank u. Do let me know of the outcome.

Angela- Gosh... Uve made me feel so proud. Hey, thanx a lot for the praising. Very happy to know tat all my effort do pay back. Where r u living, Angela?

Komala- So, u did try eh? Ok, 1stly, u dont have to use yeast. Baking soda wuld do the leavening job well enuf.2ndly, the caramel will harden as soon as u pour in the boiling water as the temp of the caramel is far higher than the boiling water. Just return it to the stove & continue stirring until the hardened caramel dissolves completely. Now, uve got ur caramel syrup done!!! Give it another try & come back to me. Good luck.

Thks for your reply Pushpa. I live in Kuwait. A very happy birthday to Mahisha. I'm sure she loved the great spread.There's a lot of baking these days at my home due to shorter working hours in Ramadan.. on Sat I made your coconut buns (they were haunting me ever since I saw your pics). I do follow your recipes verbatim as they are pretty successful, however this time I noticed you mention just add the 'active' yeast to the flour (no proofing? or should it be 'instant' yeast) I did that and after hours it stayed just that way. I had to dunk it in the bin. But since I had the filling ready I did it again with the usual yeast-in-liquid before adding to the dry ingredients and the buns turned out yumm.. Sorry to nitpick and this long msg but feedback is good heh!?Thanks for sharing. ANGELA

Wendy- Ic. Well, the purpose I have used cup measurement in the blog is coz I suppose not all my readers have a measuring scale but am very sure tat everyone has a cup.

Shilpa- Itz good to b blogging again too, dear. U definately can!!!

Viji- Thanx. I doubt so.

Angela- Thanx for the wishes. About the yeast, it is dried active instant yeast. Active yeasts r always instant yeasts. Using fresh yeast is just the same. No matter watever yeast we use, the dough wuld definately has to go thru proofing. Anyway, I am very glad tat the buns turned out well.